Bhubaneswar: The tests for COVID-19 in the city crossed one lakh mark with 2,812 tests done on Thursday and 2,642 the day before.
Out of the total 1,04,390 tests conducted by the government and private facilities so far, the Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests count for 52,205, the Rapid Antigen Tests 21,445 and TrueNAT tests 353, according to official sources.
Similarly, serological tests were conducted on 5,042 persons to look for the presence of antibodies. Antibody test results are especially important for detecting previous infections in population.
Of these tests, 79,042 were done at government facilities and 25,348 tests were conducted at private centres across the city.
The tests were conducted with the joint effort of the Health and Family Welfare department, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), 12 Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) and four Urban Community Health Centres (UCHCs).
The mobile testing van has also contributed in taking the testing figures to this level as it is jointly managed by Capital Hospital Bhubaneswar and BMC. Capital Hospital has contributed the most as there are 14 teams working to facilitate it.
The BMC has made special arrangements to organise tests for differently-abled, markets, journalists, police and resident welfare associations to cover majority of the population or those having symptoms or suspected proximity with COVID-19 positive cases.
As the number of cases is rising, four more experts have been inducted into the rapid response team for contact tracing, especially at the COVID Control Room at BMC, which is jointly run by BMC, Bhubaneswar Development Authority and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.
Following types of tests are conducted in the city:
RT-PCR
The real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is the Gold Standard test and takes around four to eight hours time to get the result. The process is based on a polymerase chain reaction or PCR, a process that copies and amplifies specific genetic fragments of the Corona virus, resulting in that there is enough material to conduct the analysis.
Rapid antigen test
This test takes around 30 minutes and can detect a particular protein material in the coronavirus that is related to the human being’s natural immune response. In the case of COVID-19, the ‘spike protein’ present on the surface of the coronavirus helps the virus’ entry into a human cell.
TRUE-NAT
This process is chip-based and works by detecting the protein envelope that holds the components of the coronavirus together and the gene for the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, an enzyme that enables the virus to replicate inside the host body. Unlike the RT-PCR process, the sample preparation in TrueNAT tests is automated, and the results are available quicker say, within half an hour.
Serological Test
This is not related to any detection or diagnosis but is useful for research. It detects whether a person has antibodies to the coronavirus. Antibodies are naturally produced by the human immune system to fight infections. Persons with antibodies in their blood are likely to have immunity to COVID-19.
